Home » News » National » Year of Youth in 2018 will be a special time to ‘make the Church seen’

Big year: The Year of Youth announced by Australia’s Catholic bishops aims to build on the legacy of the World Youth Day held in Sydney in 2008. Sydney pilgrims celebrated the iconic event at this year’s World Youth Day in Poland. Photo: Emilie Ng

Year of Youth in 2018 will be a special time to ‘make the Church seen’

Big year: The Year of Youth announced by Australia’s Catholic bishops aims to build on the legacy of the World Youth Day held in Sydney in 2008. Sydney pilgrims celebrated the iconic event at this year’s World Youth Day in Poland. Photo: Emilie Ng

UNIVERSITY student Michelle Jory is itching to show the world that the Catholic Church is alive when the Year of Youth kicks off in Australia next year.

The Brisbane nursing student is one of thousands of young Catholics and youth ministry leaders preparing for the special national liturgical year initiated by the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference (ACBC).

The Year of Youth, which begins in Advent of 2017, will also build on the legacy of the World Youth Day in Sydney 10 years on.

Australia’s bishops have announced the theme, Open Horizons for Spreading Joy: Young People, Faith and Vocational Discernment, to align with the topic for the 2018 Synod of Bishops in Rome.

Miss Jory, who is the youth ministry co-ordinator for Brisbane’s Carina parish, is grateful to the Australian bishops for deciding to honour young people over an entire year.

“I think it’s a lovely way to honour the youth of the Church and also recognise us as leaders of not just tomorrow but today,” she said.

“We should recognise that the Year of Youth will be a big year and we need to capitalise on it and make the Church seen in the world.”

ACBC president Archbishop Denis Hart said Australia was in a season of discernment “with young people a crucial part of that journey”.

“In 2018, we want to engage with youth in new ways and they with us, helping young people to encounter God in Jesus Christ,” Archbishop Hart said.

“We seek to awaken love and open your spirit to others so that you find and commit to the meaningful life God intends and so make a difference in the world.”

“We appreciate your gifts and contributions, and we want to journey with you.”

Miss Jory said Brisbane youth event Ignite Conference had allowed her to share her faith with the world.

“It made me let go of my preconceived ideas and the walls I put up about being Catholic,” she said.

“I wanted to let the world see who I’ve been loving, whom I love, all my life.”

On the theme of vocation discernment and faith, Miss Jory encouraged more young people to think about their future during high school.

“You can end up having a strong sense of self in your life,” she said.

Miss Jory said her work as a parish youth ministry co-ordinator was “the most fulfilling job position” she had had.

“Some come in not having much belief in God or a prayer life, and then they will come and say, ‘Can I go sit in the church for 10 minutes?’,” she said.

Youth focus: Bishop Peter Comensoli with young people at the 2015 Australian Catholic Youth Festival. The 2017 ACYF will be held in Sydney and will kick off the Year of Youth. The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference announced the theme for Year of Youth for 2018 would focus on vocational discernment and faith. Photo: ACBC

Vietnamese Eucharist Youth group leader Canossian Sister My Vu, based in Inala, is already supporting young people to discover their vocations and life’s purpose.

Two years ago Sr Vu asked her order for the opportunity to work with young people, and took up a role with the Vietnamese community’s youth group.

Follow us on Facebook

Vatican City, May 24, 2018 / 11:08 am (CNA/EWTN News).- In a closed-door speech to Italian bishops on Monday, Pope Francis reportedly spoke about the number and quality of seminary candidates, including concerns about their sexual orientation. At the start of his May 21 audience with Italian bishops, Pope Francis voiced three areas of concern […]

Vatican City, May 24, 2018 / 05:29 am (CNA/EWTN News).- Speaking about St. Pope John XXIII’s encyclical on establishing universal peace, Pacem in terris, Pope Francis said that even 55 years after its publication, the document still stands as “a permanent commitment” to peace. Even if the way war is carried out has changed since […]

Washington D.C., May 24, 2018 / 05:00 am (CNA/EWTN News).- The U.S. House of Representatives has passed prison reform legislation that would integrate faith-based programs into federal prisons to help prisoners prepare to successfully reenter society. The First Step Act was authored by Reps. Doug Collins (R-Ga.) and Hakeem Jeffries (D-N.Y.), and has the goal […]

Denver, Colo., May 24, 2018 / 12:29 am (CNA).- Abriana Chilelli is a Catholic mother of four children who lives in Denver, Colo. Every day on their daily route to school, she and her kids would drive by a strip club downtown that featured a parked van with pornographic images of two women. While disturbed […]

Lima, Peru, May 23, 2018 / 11:01 pm (ACI Prensa).- The bishops of Peru have launched a campaign to collect funds to provide for the basic needs of Venezuelan refugees living in the country. The Peruvian bishops’ conference announced the collection will take place June 3, during the day's scheduled Masses. According to Caritas International, […]

Dublin, Ireland, May 23, 2018 / 11:00 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- Ahead of Ireland’s abortion referendum on Friday, pro-life and pro-abortion rights debaters have squared off in a country where voters will be asked to remove constitutional protections for the unborn, known as the Eighth Amendment. “What the government has proposed is an extreme law, stripping […]